Did you know that you can wake up your food with herbs and spices? Have you ever opened your spice cabinet, searching for one that you hoped would magically change a dish from boring to extraordinary, or add a little boost to your overall health, but didn’t know which one to use? With the addition of the smallest amount of herbs and spices, you can wake up flavors and also add healing properties to the food you eat.
So, today, I’d like to focus on a few herbs and spices that not only take your meat, veggies, and even fruits from blah to “boom”, but also do double duty to help your health, especially while we are living in this new reality.
My love for cooking began as a child, in my grandmother’s kitchen. She was Greek, and was the first to teach me about using spices for cooking. When she made her Roast Leg of Lamb, the kitchen was filled with the “soul-filling” aromas of oregano and lemon.
As I began to cook on my own, and train as a chef, I began to experiment more with the use of herbs and spices for making flavors pop, and to aid in boosting my immune system. Some of my favorites to use are simple, savory, and fragrant: Salt, Turmeric, and Rosemary. Let’s explore what makes these favorites of mine essential for your kitchen, and how they can assist in keeping you healthy.
Salt
Salt is probably one of the most versatile spices in your spice cabinet. You can use salt before, during and after preparing a dish. You can also find many different types of salt, from your typical iodized salt, to fancy sea salts infused with herbs, that offer endless ways to enhance your dishes. A little can go a long way, and too much can make or break a recipe.
- Reason to Use: Enhance natural flavors; tenderize meats (especially beef) before cooking; prevent the growth of bacteria in baked goods; thicken sauces; aid in blanching vegetables; or help flavors meld in its final preparation before serving.
- Health Benefits: After many years of having people limit or cut-out salt from their diets, recent research has reaffirmed that salt is a necessary mineral that our body needs to function properly. One study from the Salt Association in the UK, said that if you don’t get enough salt, it could actually increase your risk of getting heart disease.
- Best Practice: Sprinkle a generous pinch of kosher salt on homemade guacamole (recipe below) to make it snap. Add a few salt flakes to freshly cut tomatoes to enhance the natural sugars in them. Use sea salt to top-off some of your favorite dessert recipes, like these rich Salted Chocolate Brownie Bites.
- Chef’s tip: Don’t be afraid to use salt in your cooking. But, it is always good to start with smaller quantities and add more salt to taste as you go. Salt will enhance the flavors in your dish.
Turmeric
Turmeric (Curcuma Longa) is a flowering plant in the ginger family. You can use either the fresh root, or the dried, ground root in your recipes. Cook with the raw root for a mild, peppery taste in stocks and to pep up juices. Or, after it has been finely ground into a brilliant golden yellow powder, use for a more intense, smokey flavor.
- Reason to Use: Add a warm, earthy flavor to sauces and stews; give curries, roasts and even scrambled eggs a unique flavor and silky, smooth color; add an eye-popping orange/yellow color to dishes and beverages.
- Health Benefits: Curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, has been found to protect the liver, lower cholesterol, and aid in the prevention of Alzheimer’s and cancer. In the past few years, there has been new found interest in turmeric for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Recent studies have shown that adding turmeric to a healthy fat, like olive oil or coconut oil/milk, make the health benefits more effective.
- Best Practice: Try ground turmeric in your next chicken soup stock to increase healing properties, like the Healing Chicken and Rice Soup from PinchOfYum.com. Or, add turmeric in your next fish or roasted veggies dish to add depth to the flavors, like this Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower from NaturalGrocers.com.
Photo PinchOfYum.com
- Chef’sTip: I sometimes add turmeric to my almond or coconut milk while frothing, before adding it to a hot cocoa, or drinking solo in what is called “Golden Milk”. It’s also great to add to smoothies, like this Golden Glow Pineapple Turmeric Smoothie from JarofLemons.com.
Rosemary
Its Latin name, Rosmarinus officinalis, means “Dew of the Sea”, and this beautiful, shrub-like plant grows all year round. Originally from the Medeterranean, before rosemary found its way to the culinary scene, it was used for medicinal and spiritual healing.
- Reason to Use: The piney aroma and bittersweet flavor works well in both sweet and savory foods, especially braised dishes and hearty stews. Also, as a perennial plant, it is available to use in your kitchen all year round.
- Health Benefits: Not only is it rich in folate, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, rosemary has properties that improve memory and uplift the spirits. Topically, it treats muscle pain, arthritis and improves circulation. Internally, it aids indigestion, nervous tension and headache. As an aromatherapy oil, it relieves stress and anxiety.
- Best Practice: Because rosemary is a hearty herb, it can withstand high heat and long cook times in recipes. This helps to fully develop the intensity of the herb in your recipe, like these Rosemary Braised Lamb Shanks we love making from AllRecipes.com. Rosemary has notes of citrus, pepper and mint, allowing it to pair well with not only beef, lamb and vegetables, but also chicken, like ASaucyKitchen.com’s Low FODMAP Maple Mustard Chicken with Rosemary.
- Chef’s Tip: I like adding sprigs of fresh Rosemary to floral arrangements to add another layer of fragrance to Spring and Summer flowers for friends and family, as an unexpected surprise
I typically stock/restock my spices through Penzey’s Spices. I find the quality of their spices to be high, and their prices fair.
Contact us so we can help you experience some of these wonderful spices. And, be sure to keep up with us on Facebook and Instagram for my demo videos and tips on #WhatToCookInQuarantine.
Let’s keep staying healthy together!
Secret Ingredient’s Guacamole Recipe
Ingredients
4 ripe avocados
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 cup green onions
1 small jalapeno, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
Mash avocados. Dice tomatoes and green onions. Dice jalapeño, garlic cloves and cilantro. Mix all with mashed avocado. Add olive oil, lime juice, cumin and salt, mix well. Salt to taste. Enjoy.
